Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 938 - 931: Two-Sided and Three-Bladed

Chapter 938: Chapter 931: Two-Sided and Three-Bladed

After leaving Cheng Ziang and the others, Fulajie’er moved between the dispersed team members at the fastest speed, conveying intelligence. Without Luo’er’s help, her mind often went blank, having no clue what to do next.

Fortunately, the Advance Team she was commanding wasn’t a rookie squad but a combat team with long-term battle experience. So often, the team members didn’t just wait dumbly for orders but adjusted their deployment according to the situation.

As a result, Fulajie’er’s pressure significantly decreased. She just needed to report the current combat situation and pass on messages, and she could leave the actual fighting to her team members.

It took Fulajie’er about two minutes to convey the new deployment to everyone scattered throughout the forest. Thanks to the positioning devices, she could pinpoint the members’ locations so that she wouldn’t make a rookie mistake like getting lost.

After completing all this, she didn’t even have time to catch her breath before she hurriedly flew towards the group entering the ambush zone, to figure out if they had any hostile intent.

The group advanced with difficulty through the icy snow; the man leading was around forty, very typical of an Aud’s appearance.

He wore a black leather coat, leather gloves, a felt hat on his head, and a pair of black sunglasses on his face. In both dress and demeanor, he seemed more like someone from Earth than from the Otherworld.

The man had a leather pistol holster at his waist, clearly a small leader. He wasn’t shouldering any weapons; instead, his lackey behind him carried two FAL semi-automatic rifles, following him and panting heavily.

This group seemed to be different from the ones who met with Axia previously, all unfamiliar faces, clearly subordinates sent by those people.

"Chief, why do the Maniken insist on capturing this Snow Elf?" The lackey gasped for breath while walking but couldn’t help asking.

"The Maniken want the Ancestors’ Holy Book, and that Elf woman knows where it is, so naturally, they need to capture her," the leading chief explained patiently.

"What do these Otherworlders want with the Ancestors’ Holy Book if they can’t use magic..." the lackey asked, frowning in confusion.

"Who knows," the chief shrugged and said with a smile, "as long as these people are willing to pay, who cares what they want to do, we just do our job and that’s that."

"I heard that the Maniken and the Shani are fighting fiercely in Yazhi City. I don’t see any difference between those two Otherworlder groups, so why is their conflict so big?" the lackey asked, trying to make sense of it.

"You haven’t even seen these people. Who told you there’s no difference?" the chief rolled his eyes and said with disdain, "They’re even different races, just like Aud people are from Ancient States people."

"To be honest," the lackey clicked his tongue and then lowered his head to say, "Apart from religious issues, I really don’t see what’s so hateful about Ancient States people. Except for the Church Court not liking them, most other people still do business with them as usual. Saint Basaya is almost turning into Ancient States’ Saint Basaya."

"Be careful what you say. If the wrong person hears you, you’ll get the Church Court’s whip," the chief turned back and warned in a low voice.

"Oh!" the lackey hurriedly shut his mouth after hearing the chief’s warning.

They continued walking for a while when the lackey couldn’t help but start chatting again, "I’ve heard that the Shani are also searching for the Ancestors’ Holy Book. Do you think their offer could be higher than the Maniken’s?"

Upon hearing this, the chief looked back at him and then showed a contemptuous smile, casually saying, "The Shani have their own mercenaries, why would they hire us to work for them?"

As he spoke, he suddenly narrowed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then said with furrowed brows, "However, if the Maniken and the Shani are both looking for the Ancestors’ Holy Book, doesn’t that mean we might have the power to negotiate the price?"

"Chief means..." The aide-de-camp’s eyes widened as he asked.

"Since both parties are searching for the Ancestors’ Holy Book, naturally, if we can find it, we should not so easily hand it over to the Maniken. Instead, it ought to go to the highest bidder," the Chief nodded and murmured thoughtfully.

"But... " the aide-de-camp looked at the Chief in surprise and hesitated, "All our supplies and funds for this operation were provided by the Maniken. It doesn’t seem right to do this..."

"What’s not right about it? We’re mercenaries, not charity workers," the Chief shrugged, "Priority goes to the one who pays the most. Besides, we were asked to enter the Snow Domain in winter, and several people have frozen to death. The Maniken won’t be paying any compensation for those deaths. As long as we can find the Ancestors’ Holy Book, we’ll have the power to negotiate. Since the Shani people also want the Holy Book, we can set our own terms." The Chief said and then revealed a satisfied smile, nodding continuously.

"But if we do this and the Maniken seek revenge, what will we do?" The aide-de-camp asked worriedly.

"What’s there to be afraid of," the Chief shrugged again and said, "No matter how powerful the Maniken are, they’re still Otherworlders. They can’t stay long in this world unless they want to suffer from Magic Power Erosion. As long as we have legs, it won’t be easy for the Maniken to get their revenge."

"The Chief is wise!" The aide-de-camp couldn’t help but flatter.

Fulajie’er followed these two quietly, cautiously maintaining a distance from their domains to avoid coming into contact with them and letting them overhear her mutterings.

As mentioned earlier, Fulajie’er could hear sounds in the form of sound waves, but being a spirit, she could not make sounds herself. She could only convey her thoughts to others after coming into contact with their domains.

"Hiss, why do I feel a chill? It’s like someone is watching us." The aide-de-camp couldn’t help shivering and looked around nervously.

"Don’t scare yourself, there’s nobody around here." the Chief looked around and assured.

"Do we really need so many people just to catch a Snow Elf?" The aide-de-camp couldn’t help asking.

"What do you know, that Snow Elf is a mage. Don’t think she’s just a frail woman," the Chief rolled his eyes and countered.

"A mage," the aide-de-camp’s eyes bulged, and he said in a somewhat panicked tone, "In that case, might we not be able to defeat her?"

"What’s there to not defeat," the Chief said disdainfully, "Just ten people are enough to deal with her. Too many would just drag things out. She’s just a mage, not a Magic Conductor; there’s nothing to be afraid of. Mages are like glass dolls; just one shot, and they’re done for. No need to worry so much."

Clearly, the Chief had some combat experience against mages. A mage is a delicate war machine, the magical vessels running through their body must remain intact. Even a minor injury to any part of a mage, no matter how slight the scratch, can lead to vessel damage, thereby preventing them from using magic.

Because if a mage forcibly uses magic while injured, it’s tantamount to suicide, subjecting them to severe Magic Power Erosion. That is precisely how Luo’er’s body got ruined.

"We were only ordered to bring this Snow Elf back to lead us to the Ancestors’ Holy Book, they didn’t mention anything else. Could it be that after we find that Snow Elf, we might be able to..." The aide-de-camp said and made several lewd gestures as he spoke with a sleazy expression on his face.

"I find it hard to see your interest in a several-hundred-year-old hag," the Chief teased.

"That’s not a fair comparison, after all, she’s a Snow Elf; we can’t apply our age standards to her," the aide-de-camp smiled sheepishly.

"Under these circumstances, it’s best not to create unnecessary complications. Women are plenty; if we find the Ancestors’ Holy Book, we can have whatever we want. Why bother with an old Snow Elf woman," the Chief shrugged nonchalantly.